Washed in the Water (Friday Devotional)

 

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

- Romans 12:1

At nearly 11 months old, my daughter Katherine is long past the days of being washed in the kitchen sink and now takes baths in the tub just like her big brother. For the most part she’s a big fan, especially when Andrew is there with her. She’ll splash in the water, pull up on the side of the tub, and do it all with a perpetual smile.

Until, that is, it’s time for me to pour water over her head. When that moment comes, whether I trickle it over or dump a bucket’s worth, her eyes get wide and her smile is replaced by a distraught expression. If I do it more than once, she’ll start frantically looking from side to side for an escape and will sometimes start to cry in fear. Every night I’m reminded that she likes a little water, but she doesn’t like it to cover her completely. 

Many people feel the same way about God—they want the Lord to work in some areas of their life, but they don’t want Him everywhere. They’re happy to learn biblical principles about family but get indignant when Scripture addresses their finances. They want to receive encouragement from their church but reject accountability. Their appetite for God’s Word extends only as far as their preestablished worldview will allow.

But Scripture could not be clearer that followers of Jesus Christ are not meant to pick and choose which areas we want God to change, as though the Bible were a spiritual menu. Rather, we are called to love the Lord with everything we have, to put no other gods before him, and to offer ourselves to him as living sacrifices. The gospel is not something which simply alters a few isolated behaviors—it is something which utterly transforms you.

That kind of change, which John 3 compares to being born again, can be an overwhelming proposition. But the Lord’s promise is that when in faith we turn our lives over to him—not just the things we’re comfortable parting with, but our whole lives—we will know salvation. After all, Jesus did not come to sprinkle living water around the edges of our lives, he came so that we would be drenched in his grace, righteousness, and love.